The Suicide Killer
by thedarkangel22
Summary: 'Kill him…' the voice inside her head whispered tauntingly, and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself under control. Bad things happened when she wasn't in control. Very bad things. "Kakashi. How wonderful it is to see you again." Semi-AU, sometime after the chunin exams in a world where Sasuke doesn't leave. Kakashi/OC. Rated T for now.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

"This is such a drag," groaned Shikamaru as he lay flat on his back staring up at the dancing leaves above him.

"You can't just lay there dammit! Fight me!" Naruto shouted, fist clenched as he regarded his opponent. He'd gone through four others, but they all either refused to continue sparring after a while, or just gave up, like in the case of Shikamaru.

"I don't know where you're getting all that energy from, but I don't have any. I'm not moving."

Naruto scowled at the other shinobi before turning to the others who were sprawled out around them. Not many missions had come in that week, which meant that most of the shinobi of the village had nothing to do but rest up and train. Asuma, Guy, Kurenai and Kakashi thought it would be a good idea to put all their respective teams together so they could practice amongst themselves, leaving the Jonin to relax in peace. Of course Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen, but Naruto paid no mind as he volunteered to be part of the first sparring match.

He'd fought Tenten, Choji, Kiba and Shikamaru, all of whom got irritated with his hyperactive self at some point. He was fairly sure that if he sat out the next match, two of his comrades would take the opportunity to spar, but he hated to just sit and watch. It made him antsy.

"Ino! Come spar with me!"

From where she was sitting, Ino blanched. The last thing she wanted to do was get up and fight. It was the middle of summer and the trees did little to protect them from the blistering sun. No one wanted to do anything but lay around.

Except Naruto of course.

"You must actually be stupid if you think that I'm getting up from here Naruto. Choji finally gave up some shade. I'm not moving."

Chuckling, Asuma looked over at them from where he was sitting with Kurenai and Guy in the branches of a large tree.

"That Naruto never fails to amuse me," he laughed, leaning back against the trunk. A moment later, the grin fell off his face. "Do you feel that?" he asked, but Guy and Kurenai were already looking in the direction the new chakra was coming from.

They all jumped to the ground, drawing the attention of the chunin.

"What's happening?" whispered Hinata just as Akamaru began to growl.

"Someone's coming," replied Sakura, and some of the others turned to her. "You can feel their chakra."

While everyone was engrossed with the incomers, Naruto was still oblivious. Finally noticing that the others weren't paying attention to him, he crossed his arms, glowering at the group.

"Well who's going to fight me!?"

Just as he shouted the words, a patch of black smoke drifted into the clearing. The Jonin were on the move, positioning themselves between the smoke and the group of chunin.

"…I'll fight you…"

The disembodied voice seemed to float around them, but there was no body to go with it.

"Show yourself villain!" shouted Guy, taking up a fighting stance.

The black smoke began to slowly come together, materializing into something. A girl. It took only a couple of seconds, and most of the chunin missed it, but there she was, a girl, standing across from Naruto.

She was wearing all black. Black cropped halter-top, loose fitting black pants slung low on her hips, black sandals. Even her long hair was inky black as it blew in the slight breeze. She wore her forehead protector on her left upper arm, but the symbol on it was not one that most of the chunin could identify.

"What the…" Naruto whispered as the girl raised her smoky grey eyes to meet his blue ones. "Who…who are you?" he asked, but the girl only smirked.

"You said you wanted to fight, right?" she said, her voice sending chills up Naruto's spine. "So let's fight little boy."

That seemed to jar Naruto out of his temporary paralysis and he narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.

"Hey! I'm not a little boy! I'll show you, just you wait!" he shouted, unaware that everyone was staring at the two of them.

"Do you recognize the symbol," whispered Kurenai to Asuma and he nodded slowly.

"Shadow ninja."

"Please don't kill him."

At the new voice, everyone turned to see a tall man jump down from the cover of the trees. He wore all black, just like the girl, except he also wore a vest like the other Jonin, though his was grey rather than green. He wore a forehead protector bearing the same symbol as the mysterious girl too.

The man looked at the group and then smiled apologetically, running a hand through his dark hair. Looking back towards the girl, he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm serious Arya. If you kill this one too, you're on your own. I'm still filling out paperwork from the last time. And you know how much I hate doing paperwork."

"Yea, and we're tired of having to clean up, so, take it easy."

In a dark blur, two more boys appeared by the man. They too were wearing all black and wore the same forehead protector.

"Speak for yourself, Haru. It's kinda fun to watch her when she get's like that," said the boy with the brown hair, smirking at his friend.

"You'd watch her do anything, Zen, you freak," retorted the chunin with ashy blonde hair, crossing his arms.

"Who are you?" asked Sakura after a moment of silence. Sighing, Asuma sat back down, drawing Guy and Kurenai's attention. Leaning back, he squinted up at them. "It's fine," he said lightly. "They're not going to do anything."

"Do you know these people Sensei?" asked Ino, glancing at Asuma. Closing his eyes, Asuma crossed his arms and Ino wondered if he'd heard her question.

"It's been a while. Enta Yumana," he said finally, and everyone's eyes darted to the other man who grinned slowly.

"Asuma, you old dog. I thought I'd sensed your chakra. How've you been?"

"Asuma-sensei knows this guy?" whispered Sakura to Ino as they huddled together. Shrugging, the two Kunoichi turned their attention back to the two men.

"I'm alive," responded Asuma with a shrug, and slowly his lips twisted into a grin. "Just as you are I see. Who are your friends?"

"Ah, let me introduce you to my students, Zen Kureshi and Haru Higa," he said proudly, putting a hand on each boy's shoulder as he mentioned their names. "And our volatile friend over there is Arya Rin."

At the mention of the girl's name, Asuma raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You mean…that's her?"

Following his gaze, Enta crossed his arms while he also regarded his pupil. "That depends on what you mean," he said slowly, keeping his eyes on his student.

"Is she the one that they speak of?" clarified Asuma. "The Suicide Killer."

Kurenai gasped quietly, and a wry smile appeared on Enta's face at the nickname. It was an apt one, yes, but even then, he'd hoped that the name would have been dropped. Arya didn't need the encouragement that title brought. She'd spent too much time learning to control herself to be reduced to being 'The Suicide Killer' again.

"I wouldn't say—"

"Arya."

At the sound of his voice, everyone looked over. Enta and Asuma exchanged a quick, wary look before turning to look at him too.

Kakashi.

Sighing quietly, Enta rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was hoping we wouldn't run into him," he muttered, and Asuma couldn't help but chuckle.

If they had been paying closer attention to the girl, they would have noticed that she tensed a moment before Kakashi appeared in the clearing. When he said her name, her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed.

'_Kill him…' _ the voice inside her head whispered tauntingly, and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself under control. Bad things happened when she wasn't in control. Very bad things.

She knew, from the moment Enta mentioned that they'd be visiting the hidden leaf village, she knew that they would cross paths with…him.

She knew they'd be watching her now. All of them. And so she took a quiet breath, fixing a pretty sneer on her face before turning away from the blonde kid before her and to the silver-haired man.

"Kakashi," she said, enjoying that something flickered in his one visible eye when she'd said his name. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but she saw it, and she fed off it.

"How wonderful it is to see you again."

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><p><strong>As I mentioned before, this story is semi-AU. Exact events that happened in the show probably won't happen in this story. For example, Sasuke doesn't leave in this story, doesn't do any of the other things he did in the anime (ie he doesn't join the dark side). He, Naruto, Sakura and the others will still grow to be as powerful as they are in the showmanga though, so don't worry.**

**If you have any questions, leave me a review :)**


	2. Chapter 1

_**So just to clear some stuff up; I've skewed the ages a bit, just for the sake of the story. Kakashi and the other Jonin are about 25-26, Arya, Zen and Haru are about 20, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and the others are 17-19. I also realize that I called them genin before, but at that age they'd more likely be at least chunin. And soooo I went back and fixed that :)**_

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><p>"You know, the grass never did anything to you."<p>

At Zen's words, Arya looked up from her furious grass picking to glare at her teammate. She was sitting with him and Haru under a tree, away from the other chunin. The others were all huddled together a couple feet away, close enough that she could eavesdrop on them if she chose to do so. She purposely tuned them out however, or rather she tried to, but that blonde kid, Naruto, was being ridiculously loud. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about. Besides, there were other things on her mind. Well, one thing really.

And his name was Kakashi Hatake.

Said individual was standing at the far end of the clearing with Enta and the other Jonin, hands casually tucked in his pockets as he said something. They were all taking care to keep their voices down, but, again, she could have probably listened in on them if she wanted to.

At that moment Enta and Asuma started to laugh, and Enta clapped a hand on Kakashi's back. The silver haired man, however, didn't seem to share their amusement, because he simply glowered at the ground, crossing his arms. She tried, but she couldn't help the twitch of her lips at the sight of Kakashi looking like a petulant child.

"So are you going to talk to him?" asked Haru, drawing her attention away from them. She glanced in the blonde's direction, taking in his long, lanky form sprawled out in the grass in front of her.

"We have nothing to talk about," she said curtly, resuming her violent grass picking. Both Haru and Zen couldn't help but laugh at that, and she looked up to glare at them both.

"What?" she snapped and Zen shook his head, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Don't hurt us, princess," he teased, using that dreadful nickname her team picked out for her when they first got together. "It was a pretty good question. And I personally think you guys should talk. Even if that means he's going to leave the conversation bloody and bruised."

Arya rolled her eyes even as the boys snickered again. She may act very hostile and defensive, but there were a few people with whom she let down her guard. The two shinobi sitting with her were two of them, Enta was the other.

At one time there was another with whom she shared everything, but that person was no longer in her life. Her shoulders sank very slightly at the thought. The memories. It had been years, and she was over it, or so she convinced herself, but there were days she didn't quite feel so…over it. Days where the pain seemed just as strong as it did then.

She hated those days. They made her feel weak, and that was something she promised herself she'd never, ever be again.

Frowning down at the pieces of ripped grass in her hands, she fought the urge to rub the spot on her chest where a dull ache began. Sighing quietly, she closed her eyes, but the images flashed in her head anyway. Memories. Thoughts. _Feelings._ God she hated feelings.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, she looked over at Kakashi, her eyes landing on him instantly. It was at that exact moment that he decided to look over at her, and from across the clearing, their eyes met.

How was it that he still held the power to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand, just by looking at her? She resented him for that. Resented herself for giving him that kind of power over her, even after all that time.

Though both their faces remained passive, almost bored even, their eyes were anything but. The tension in the air was almost palpable. She wasn't paying much attention, but everyone had gone silent, even that annoying blonde leaf ninja.

'_Kill him…'_ snarled the treacherous voice in her head, louder than before. _'Kill him, kill him. He must die. Kill him, I'll even do it for you…'_ the voice chanted, getting even louder. Her hands started to get clammy and began to tremble ever so slightly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zen and Haru sit up slowly, moving closer to her. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and the air around her seemed to get heavier. And through it all, her gaze remained locked with Kakashi's.

He was staring at her more intently now, and she watched as something flickered in his eye, brow furrowing every so slightly. She was trying, very hard, to calm herself down, to quiet the voice in her head, but she found that the techniques Enta had taught her weren't doing much. She was too frazzled, she wasn't focusing.

The voice was getting louder, more insistent. Her head was pounding almost unbearably and it was only getting worse. This wasn't good. Not at all.

"Arya," said Zen softly, trying to snap her out of it. After being with her day in and day out for the past few years, the two of them knew her inside and out. They'd seen her at every point, every high and every low. Though they hadn't seen it happen very often, they knew that she was losing control of the beast inside her.

And it was because of him. Kakashi.

"It's alright," murmured Haru from the other side of her. He reached out, presumably to touch her, but she growled low in her throat without intending to do so, making him retract his hand. It proved exactly how little control she had. All that hard work over the years, and it had all gone to shit in the span of ten minutes.

A particularly painful throbbing started in her head, and she could no longer hold her composition. She squeezed her eyes shut, closing Kakashi out of her line of vision. Her hand came up to press against her forehead, and she heard Zen curse under his breath.

All of a sudden she felt the air shift, and then she felt large, cool hands press on either side of her head. The gentle, chakra infused pressure seemed to counteract the throbbing, and she dropped her hand back into her lap, her face relaxing again.

"I've got ya princess," said Enta, sounding casual and relaxed, as though nothing was wrong. She opened her eyes to look into his deep brown ones. He held her gaze, and she slowly felt herself relaxing further. Her thundering heart slowed down, and she stopped trembling. The voice in her head huffed in annoyance and then disappeared.

Closing her eyes again, she exhaled deeply, pushing her sensei's hands off her. She looked up at the group of chunin across from her to see that they were all staring at her. Even the Jonin were staring at her.

_He_ was staring at her.

'…_monster…' _

The word whispered through her mind, and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Arya-" Enta started, looking at her with those stupid, understanding eyes. Shooting him, and everyone else, a fierce glare, she vanished, the only trace left of her being a cloud of black smoke left in her place. The smoke gathered and spun furiously, and then it too was gone.

Sighing, Enta rubbed his forehead before looking over his shoulder at Kakashi. His old friend held his gaze for a long moment. And though the other man was known for having one of the best poker faces in the village, Enta caught a glimpse of… something in his eye. It could have been surprise, but the Shadow village Jonin thought it was more than that. It looked more like…sadness.

Before Enta could read into anything, Kakashi also vanished in a blur.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as a wry smile crossed his lips.

From across the clearing, Naruto had just managed to find his voice again.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Sighing, he laid back in the grass, squinting up at the clouds. If only the kid knew.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, I'd really love it if y'all could leave me a comment/review. Pretty please? :)**

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><p>Zen woke up to his Sensei pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on his face. Sputtering, he sat up and stared at a grinning Enta and an equally amused Haru standing in his room.<p>

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," said Enta, looking far too cheery considering it was like, nine in the morning.

"I really wish you'd stop doing that," he muttered, taking of his soaked t-shirt and throwing it across the small room.

"And I really wish you'd wake up on time for training. I guess we're both not getting what we wished for, huh?" said the Jonin, dropping down onto the dry side of the bed. "Go get dressed. We're already late."

"And take that shirt with you," added Haru from where he was leaning against the doorframe. "The Hokage didn't give us housing for you to fuck up the floors by leaving wet clothes on it. "

"That too," said Enta, his ever-present grin covering half his face.

Grumbling under his breath, Zen slid out of bed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking out water droplets. He made his way to the bathroom, but stopped just short of the door.

"Is she back yet?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Enta. It had been four days since Arya had left the clearing, and she still wasn't back. Of course it wasn't exactly new for her to get angry and go off on her own for a couple days, but still. It was different this time. _He_ was out there.

Despite the younger boys' question, Enta's grin did not falter. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Not yet. Now go get ready, you're holding us up."

Zen looked over at Haru who only shrugged and looked away. He was worried too, Zen knew it for a fact. And though Enta seemed to be very nonchalant about the whole situation, he knew their Sensei was also anxiously waiting on Arya's return.

Sighing, Zen walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

_._._._._

"Fucking hell," muttered Zen as he laid flat on his back, staring up at Enta who stood over him with crossed arms.

"How many times have I told you to watch that blind spot?" he barked, raising an eyebrow. "And you," he continued, turning on Haru who stood across from them, hands braced on his knees as he caught his breath. "What part of 'no genjutsu' did you not understand? I specifically said only taijutsu. The two of you will put me in an early grave, I swear."

"You're reckless enough to put yourself in an early grave."

Both Zen and Haru grinned and sat up, looking in the direction of the voice. As they watched, black smoke slowly began to materialize into the familiar features of the third member of their team.

"Look what the wind blew in," teased Zen as he jumped to his feet and appeared at her side, putting an arm around her shoulders. Arya only rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked up in a miniscule smirk.

"That joke is getting old," she said leaning into him for a quick moment before elbowing him in the side and stepping away.

"It's the only joke he knows," said Haru grinning at her and she smiled back before looking at Enta. The older man watched her coolly for a long minute before grinning widely.

"You shouldn't talk about recklessness princess," he commented, running a hand through his hair. "But now that you've decided to rejoin us, get to work. You've missed four days of training and meetings with the Hokage."

"I didn't miss any training," she said, tying up her long black hair in a ponytail. "In fact, I probably spent more time training over the past few days than the three of you."

Enta shook his head, a smirk on his lips as he regarded the only female member of his squad. Of course she'd spend her time away training. It was a reoccurring theme; she's get upset or angry and she'd go off on her own and spend countless hours training, punishing herself almost. The kid was too hard on herself, thought Enta, but telling her that would only result in pissing her off again, so he never brought it up.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked instead. He knew that when she got into one of those anger-induced training moods, she'd often neglect to take care of herself.

Arya couldn't help the sheepish smile that appeared on her face at the question. "Ah, I don't remember exactly," she said, twirling a lock of her own hair. In truth, it had been a while since she'd had an actual meal. Whenever she remembered to eat, she just grabbed a handful of grapes or an apple or something she else she could find in the forest. It wasn't her fault really, she just chose to stay out in the wilderness and away from civilization during her 'trips'. She was less likely to accidentally hurt someone that way, and it also meant that she wouldn't have to deal with people.

"That's code for, 'I haven't eaten since I left'," said Haru, shaking his head. The blonde was the self-appointed 'mother' of the group. Always telling them what to do and how to do it, worrying over them. It was…sweet, though Arya would never tell him that.

She shrugged, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "So are we going to train or what?" she asked, looking between the three men.

"No. We're going to get food. It's lunchtime anyway. We can continue later."

Arya frowned at Enta even as Zen and Haru high-fived one another. She started to protest, but her Sensei cut her off with a stern look. Enta was rarely serious with them, but when it came to the health of his squad, he was adamant. Especially when it concerned Arya, who would go days without eating or sleeping if she could get away with it.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, following the others as they headed back towards the village.

_._._._._

They walked into a quaint little restaurant a couple moments later, Arya literally dragging her feet as she followed at the back of the group. She'd rather be training, but of course the boys wanted to eat.

Idiots.

When she heard that stupid blonde kid from before yelling something about ramen, she groaned. Perhaps if it were just the annoying kid, she would have ignored it. Hell, even if he was with the rest of his friends she'd have dealt with it. But he was with _him._ She was back in the village for all of ten minutes and she was already crossing paths with Kakashi Hatake again.

Perfect.

Haru and Zen noticed the other squad moments after she did, and they exchanged a look over her head before trying to subtly direct the group to the opposite end of the restaurant.

"Hey! Hey! Zen, Haru, Arya, Enta-Sensei! Come sit with us!"

Arya nearly growled as he called them, shouting unnecessarily loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. She didn't even bother to acknowledge the boy, Naruto, and she instead continued to walk by them. Haru started to decline the request, polite guy that he was, but Enta interrupted him.

"Of course we'll join you," he said, grinning widely, and Arya froze in her spot, as did Haru and Zen. Enta paid no mind to them however, and he went ahead and slid into the booth, sitting beside Kakashi. The girl on the other side of the silver-haired man looked just as shocked as they did.

The Kunoichi looked between Enta, Arya, and her own sensei, who was staring pointedly at his friend. Clearly the girl picked up on the…tension between Kakashi and her. Enta and Naruto however, were a different story.

"Uh, we don't want to bother them…" started Haru, looking between Arya and Enta.

"Nah, it's no bother!" chuckled Naruto, motioning for them to come over. Her teammates didn't move though, and she knew they wouldn't until she did. Arya sighed, rubbing her forehead. She'd walk out of the restaurant, but Enta would just cause a scene. Besides, if she left, Haru and Zen would too.

Cursing under her breath, she walked over and slid into the booth next to Naruto, since sitting next to Enta would make her want to punch him in the face. After a moment's hesitation, Zen and Haru joined them, the brunette sitting next to her and the blonde sitting next to Enta.

"Hi!" said Naruto to her loudly, turning slightly in his seat, and for a moment she wondered if sitting next to him was such a good idea. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Arya nodded, crossing her legs under the table. She wanted to glare at Enta for putting her in this position, but looking at him meant that she was basically looking at Kakashi as well. So instead she turned to the boy beside her.

"I know your name," she said, giving him a forced smile. He didn't seem to notice the dryness of her tone however, because he sent her a blinding grin.

"Have you met my teammates?" he questioned enthusiastically. Before she could answer, he continued. "This is Sakura and this is Sasuke. And, well, I guess you already know Kakashi Sensei…how do you know him by the way?"

The boy on the other side of him, Sasuke, rolled his eyes and she noticed that he subtly kicked his teammate under the table. "It's none of your business, idiot," he mumbled under his breath, and in that instant, Arya took a liking to that boy. Finally someone who understood the importance of minding their own business.

"It was just a question," whined Naruto, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Sasuke. "I just wanted to know how-"

"Naruto. That's enough."

Kakashi's voice was quiet, but the steely undertone couldn't be mistaken. Instantly Naruto shut his mouth and sank down in his seat, sulking quietly. Sakura gave the boy a long, disapproving look from across the table before turning to Arya with a big smile.

"So, I hear you guys are from the village hidden in the shadows, huh? It's weird, we didn't learn much about it at the Academy. What's it like?"

"Dark, and gloomy," said Arya dryly and Sakura blinked, her smile wavering as she tried to figure out whether or not she was being serious. And while Sakura was fidgeting, Arya noticed that Kakashi's lips twitched slightly in amusement. He always did appreciate dark humor.

He looked up from the spot on the table he was previously staring at just then to glance at her, and their eyes met for a moment, just like in the clearing. But unlike that time in the clearing, the voice in her head was silent. The fact that she was once again in control of herself made her that much more confident and at ease.

Zen bumped her shoulder slightly, shifting a little closer to her, and since she was still looking intently at Kakashi, she noticed the way his eye shifted to the younger man for a moment. Her teammate was looking at her, so he didn't catch the stony look, but Arya did.

And she didn't know what to think of it.

So instead, she turned to Zen, leaning in as he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh lightly and roll her eyes. When she looked back at Kakashi, he was back to staring at the table.

"She's only kidding," said Haru, leaning forward so he could see Sakura past the two Jonin. "It's not all dark and gloomy."

"Oh…so what's it like?" she asked, the smile once again appearing on her face.

"Well, I guess the most distinguishable thing in our village would be the caves. We've got an entire system of underground caves and tunnels beneath the village. There are also cave systems flanking three sides of the village, meaning that there's only one path in and out. That's why our village is so secure and easy to defend. Not to mention the fact that it's relatively small, in terms of population. Beyond the caves, there are rocky cliffs and mountains. They often block out the sunshine, which is why it's often dark, as Arya mentioned."

"That sounds really cool," said Sakura, looking at Haru earnestly as he described the village in which she was born. "So what brings you to our village? Naruto mentioned that he saw you at the Hokage towers." Both Zen and Haru looked at each other before looking at Enta. Only the three of them knew why they were in the village, Arya missed out on the debriefing while she was away, so she couldn't offer any answers even if she wanted to.

"Well it was a variety of reasons," started Enta, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Since the shadow village is so small, we don't get very many missions. Whatever missions do come our way are usually D-ranks, maybe C-ranks, and I decided that these guys needed something more challenging before they got fat and lazy." Chuckling, he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Besides, our village recently signed a treaty with your village. As a result, the Hokage suggested that we drop by."

"So you guys were, like, invited by the Hokage?" asked Naruto and Enta shrugged one shoulder.

"I guess you could say that."

Arya was watching her Sensei carefully as he spoke. Though all of what he said was true, she couldn't help but feel that he knew something more that he wasn't sharing. When he and Kakashi exchanged a quick, secretive glance, she was even more positive that there was something else going on.

Before she could do anything about it, the waitress arrived to take their orders, and it was total chaos as Zen and Naruto began to bicker over the menu. And though she still suspected something was up, she let it go for the moment.

A short while later, their food arrived and they all began to eat in amicable silence. Well, Naruto seemed to be inhaling his ramen rather than eating it considering how fast it disappeared from his bowl. Reaching across the table to grab one of Sakura's breadsticks, he turned back to her.

"So I was wondering, what's up with that smoke-cloud thing you do?"

Arya paused in the process of picking at her food to look at the younger shinobi. "Smoke release," she said simply, reaching for her water. At Naruto's confused look, she grudgingly elaborated. "The ability to change into smoke. It's my kekkei genkai. Well, one of them."

"You have more than one kekkei genkai?" asked Sasuke suddenly, speaking up for the first time since they got there. She looked over at him, beyond a wide-eyed Naruto, to meet his dark eyes.

Nodding slowly, she shifted in her seat. She'd prefer not to answer, of course, but Enta was giving her these pointed looks. He was always trying to get her to make new friends and open up, but she remained adamantly against it. Even so, with a sigh, she decided to answer, only because it was Sasuke and his reserved nature reminded her of herself.

"I have three," she started. "The smoke release, which allows me to turn any part of my body into smoke, dark release, which gives me the ability to manipulate other people's chakra, and finally blood release, which allows me to control the viscosity of blood and it's flow."

"But that's….impossible," said Sasuke, frowning at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Well clearly it's not impossible, since I possess the three of them," she said, leaning back in her seat.

"Hold on, kekkei genkai are passed down in clans, right?" asked Naruto, looking between Kakashi and her. "So does that mean both your parents had kekkei genkai? I mean, the only way you could have them is because they gave them to you, right?" He was so absorbed in what he was saying that he didn't notice her tense very slightly at the mention of her parents.

She dropped her eyes to her half eaten plate of food, picking at it again.

"They didn't give me anything," she said firmly before chewing on a string bean. Sakura and Sasuke seemed to pick up on the fact that her words held a deeper meaning than simply explaining her kekkei genkai, and so they both went silent. Naruto, unfortunately, didn't possess the same observational skills as his teammates.

"So how can you have kekkei genkai if you didn't get them from your parents? I mean, Sasuke has his Sharingan because he's an Uchiha and it was passed down to him."

Arya was quickly losing patience with the boy, and Enta must have noticed, because he opened his mouth to step in.

But Kakashi beat him to it.

"Sasuke's Sharingan was passed down to him through his clan, yes, and that's the case with most kekkei genkai, but there are exceptions," he said, moving aside his empty plate to rest his elbows on the table. "Take me for example. I'm not an Uchiha, and yet I possess the Sharingan. That's because I was given Obito Uchiha's eye, which then transferred his kekkei genkai to me."

"So you're saying that she was given her kekkei genkai?" asked Naruto and Kakashi shook his head slowly.

"She didn't get them in the same way I did, but they were…given to her in a sense."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, confused as ever, but Kakashi held up a hand.

"This isn't an interrogation Naruto, that's enough. Besides, we should get going. We skipped training this morning because you slept in and so we need to make up for it."

Kakashi's eye flicked to her then, just for a moment, flitting over her face. But before she could read anything in his gaze, he looked away.

"What a coincidence," said Enta after a moment, grinning widely. "We're going to go train too. You should join us."

"I don't know Enta, we've got a lot to do," started Kakashi, clearly trying to avoid the situation, but her Sensei was having none of it.

"Oh come on," he chided, smirking at his friend. "Are you afraid that my kids are going to beat yours to a pulp?"

Arya shook her head slowly, already knowing where this was going. She often called Enta an idiot, but he was the smartest idiot she knew. Sure enough, his words had the intended effect because Naruto jumped to his feet, nearly upending the table.

"What do you mean?! I'll pulverize these guys! Just you watch, I'm going to kick some butt. Come on Kakashi-Sensei, are you really going to let him say that?"

Kakashi sighed, looking heavenward and Enta's grin grew even wider.

"Fine," he muttered, practically glaring at Naruto who was, as usual, oblivious to it all.

"Wonderful," said Enta, motioning the waitress over so they could pay and leave.

Arya didn't know what Enta was doing, purposely putting Kakashi and Arya in each other's presence knowing full well what happened between them. Clearly he had some sort of an agenda, but she didn't know what.

At least not yet.

Scooting out of the booth behind Zen, they all began walking towards the exit. Naruto was still busy talking about how he was going to beat everyone, but she wasn't paying him much attention. She'd heard a lot about him, naturally, but she wasn't exactly worried.

Zen came up beside her then, casually tossing an arm over her shoulders as they began to walk in the direction of the training fields just outside the town.

Behind them, Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the brown haired chunin with his arm around Arya. The look alone should have been able to bore a hole right through the younger man's head.

"Something bothering you Hatake?" asked Enta as he passed the other Jonin, a knowing smirk plastered on his face. At that, Kakashi glowered at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets and muttering something under his breath.

Sakura and Sasuke, who brought up the rear of the group, noticed the exchange and shared a curious look.

"I wonder what's going on between Kakashi-Sensei and Arya," whispered Sakura. Sasuke however, was interested in the woman for a different reason entirely.

"I wonder how she is in combat," he said, prompting Sakura to stare at him. "She has three kekkei genkai, and if her other teammates are any indication, she should be proficient in taijutsu too. That would make her a strong opponent."

Looking away from Sasuke, Sakura stared at the ground as they lapsed into silence. She had to admit that his fascination with the new girl had her jealousy flaring up, but she suspected that she and Zen were an item.

Or rather, she hoped they were.

"Maybe that's why they call her the Suicide Killer," commented Sakura eventually. "To be given a title like that…What kind of a monster is she?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, but he chose not to comment. It was pretty obvious that she got the title by killing, there was no doubt about that. And he knew, all too well, what blood thirst felt like. Perhaps he and the newcomer had more in common than he initially thought.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Comment and review people, or I might just have to put this fic on hold ;P lol I joke, but really though, I want to hear your thoughts!**

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><p>Though the group decided to go to the furthest of the available training grounds, it didn't take them very long to get there. Once they stepped into the clearing, Kakashi turned to Enta, arms crossed over his broad chest. He purposely positioned himself in such a way that put Arya and that teammate of hers, behind his back. Though his face remained deceivingly passive, he still had half a mind to punch the boy into the next millennium.<p>

Trying to push all thoughts of murdering the chunin out of his mind, he raised an eyebrow at his long time friend.

"I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play Enta," he started as their combined squads started warming up in the clearing. "But whatever it is, I'm not interested."

Scoffing, Enta leaned back against a tree as he looked over to watch Zen throw a dandelion at Arya who only rolled her eyes, smirking as she continued to stretch in the grass. He then watched inconspicuously as Kakashi turned to follow his gaze, and barely contained a smirk as he watched the other man's visible eye narrow at the two chunin.

"Not interested, huh," stated Enta teasingly, drawing the silver-haired man's attention back to him. If looks could kill, Enta would be six feet under just then.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Kakashi, expression as cool and calm as ever. But Enta knew him better than that.

"Of course you don't," he said, straightening up from his position against the tree. "Just a side note though, quit glaring at Zen that way. Arya isn't going to appreciate it." And with a cheeky wink, he walked towards the six students. Behind him, Kakashi used the opportunity to glower at the other Jonin's back as he departed.

What the hell was his problem anyway, he thought, resisting the urge to punch through the tree behind him. It wasn't like him to be so…visibly bothered by someone. He was known for being able to hide anything and everything behind his mask of indifference. So how did a stupid little chunin elicit such a response from him?

As he mused about that, he looked over at where Enta was speaking to the group. The boy, or young man rather, in question didn't seem to be paying attention to what his sensei was saying. Instead, he leaned in close to say something to his two team members. The other man, Haru, flashed a grin, quick and boyish, but that wasn't what captured Kakashi's attention.

What caught his attention was the slow grin that appeared on the raven-haired Kunoichi's face. He watched from a distance as her eyes crinkled up in the way they did when her smiles were sincere. He watched the way two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks as her grin stretched wider. He watched the way the light breeze caught in her long hair and made it dance around her tall, gently curved form.

And when she lifted a hand to gently flick the brown-haired ninja's forehead with her finger, he watched the rare show of affection in her eyes. And as he fought the urge to scowl behind his mask, he grudgingly acknowledged what he'd subconsciously known since the moment the shadow ninja appeared in his village.

He was jealous.

Kakashi Hatake, the infamous copy ninja, was jealous of a man six years his junior.

That thought alone made him furious with himself. _How the mighty have fallen, _he thought ruefully as he continued to watch the young woman who was at the root of all his problems. He stared at her barely realizing that he was doing so, grateful for the fact that the others were all too occupied to look in his direction and catch him in the act.

He watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind the tiny ears he used to tease her about, and wondered how he ever thought that he'd gotten her out of his system. He hadn't seen her since she left the Leaf four long years ago. The distance allowed him to convince himself that he didn't care. Sometimes he even wondered if the whole ordeal was just a dream.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

But now she was back, and he was quickly realizing that he did in fact care. A lot. And he really wished he didn't. He didn't have the right, not after what he'd done to her. Logically he knew that their…separation was inevitable. It had to happen, for her sake, but she didn't know that. Instead, the then sixteen year old was on the receiving end of his brutal words, none of which he meant, but delivered with a cruel, vicious, indifference regardless.

Not even the death of his old teammate at his hands made Kakashi hate himself more than he did when he watched the tears stream down her pretty face. He saw that image in his head, her big grey eyes, filled with pain and tears, for months after she was gone.

It hurt, but he welcomed the images for that very reason. He deserved to hurt. He deserved every kind of pain for doing what he did. And he did hurt, for years. Her face haunted him wherever he went. He could barely stand to be in his own room for months afterwards because he'd always end up 'seeing' her lounging around the small space as she often did when she was actually around.

Kakashi sighed then, leaning back against the tree, staring up blindly at the leaves that danced in the wind. During those four years he found new ways to punish himself. It was almost ironic that it resulted in him becoming one of the most feared ANBU captains of Konoha. He was ruthless. He fought every battle as though he didn't care if he died, and he really didn't. It was a dark time, one that his friends noticed but didn't know how to help him through.

It'd been a year after she left when the Third finally had Kakashi step down as ANBU captain and take up his new role as Jonin-Sensei, which he approached in much of the same manner. But then he noticed the ill effects it was having on his squads, and he realized that he was punishing them for his own misgivings.

By the time he was assigned his current squad, Kakashi had reigned in most of his resentment with himself. Or at least he acted like he did.

Speaking of his squad, Kakashi could hear Naruto give a mighty yell and he looked over just in time to see the blonde teenager throw a wild punch at Zen, who sidestepped it easily. The Jonin shook his head slightly. Even after training with one of the legendary Sannin, Naruto could still be a hot head.

Instinctively, he shifted his eyes from the ongoing spar to look over at Arya, and he was slightly surprised to see her watching him from where she sat in the grass.

Arya bristled internally when Kakashi caught her staring at him from across the clearing. She'd been watching Zen and Naruto spar, but she couldn't help but glance over at him from time to time. He didn't seem to notice most of the time, since he seemed to be deep in thought, but her luck ran out when he did look over.

"Stay still!" shouted Naruto, and she used it as an excuse to look away from the older man and back to the pair fighting in front of them. Zen of course, stood there smirking like the cocky bastard he was. The Kureshi clan was known for their magnificent speed, and Zen was no different. In the time it took someone to blink, he could have them flat on their back with a kunai in their throat.

"Make me, kid," taunted Zen as he flashed to the side when Naruto charged again. Growling, the boy formed a couple hand signs. "Shadow clone jutsu!" he shouted and in the next instant, ten other shadow clones appeared at his side. Arya raised an eyebrow at that, it was pretty impressive.

Zen cursed under his breath and went on the defensive. The shadow clones began to vanish in puffs of smoke, and her teammate was so occupied with them that he didn't notice two of the clones standing to the side. They were doing something, a ball of blue forming in the hand of one of the clones.

Had they been in battle, Arya would have warned Zen, but they were sparring, and therefore she couldn't. Just as Zen destroyed the last clone, Naruto charged.

"Rasengan!" he shouted and Arya watched as Zen's eyes widened. A second later, the tree across from where the two had been crashed to the ground.

Naruto did a little happy dance, raising his fist into the air. That was, until he turned around and noticed Zen standing across from him, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He was tired, but otherwise unharmed.

Naruto's laughter died down as he gapped at the other man.

"But…how?" he sulked, crossing his arms and glaring like a toddler throwing a hissy fit. From where he stood, Enta chuckled, shaking his head.

"Alright, that's enough," said the Sensei, nodding at the two men to sit down. Naruto began to protest, but Enta held up a hand. "You can have another go later, but for now we should give the others a chance."

Grumbling under his breath, Naruto stomped over to where Sakura was sitting and dropped down beside her. The pink-haired Kunoichi laughed at her teammates antics and patted him on the arm reassuringly. Sasuke, who was standing behind the two of them, leaning against a tree, only rolled his eyes.

"So who wants to go next?" asked Enta, rubbing his hands together while looking around at the group. After a moment of silence, Sakura jumped to her feet.

"I'll go Enta-Sensei," she said, her face lit in a passionate glow. Enta nodded at the girl and gave her a smile. "Wonderful. Arya, why don't you spar with her, hmm?" The older man turned to look at his student lazing in the grass and raised an eyebrow. The girl liked to pretend that she was disinterested in everything, and he never did understand why. She was a whole lot different before…well. Before the whole ordeal with Kakashi happened.

"Well?" he asked, crossing his arms, and Arya sighed before slowly ambling to her feet. She had an innate grace in the way she moved, whether she was fighting or just walking from point A to point B. Enta supposed it was the way of the smoke that was such an integral part of her. She flowed, he thought as he watched her approach him, her long limbs moving in a way that reminded him of dancing. Chuckling under his breath he acknowledged, for the umpteenth time, how she seemed to captivate others by barely doing anything at all. She did manage to capture the attention of the infamous copy ninja of the Leaf, didn't she?

Speaking of that ninja, he stepped up next to Enta just then, eyes focused on Sakura.

"Stay on your toes," Kakashi said to her, assuming a stance much like Enta's. Sakura looked at him and nodded before turning back to the dark-haired woman standing before her. She looked…bored, mused Sakura, and the thought of the other woman not thinking of her as good enough competition caused her anger to spike. She wasn't as good as Sasuke or Naruto, but she was far from the doe-eyed, emotional fool that she used to be. She was trained by Lady Tsunade, the Fourth Hokage, and she was a powerful Kunoichi in her own right.

She looked over her shoulder to where her teammates were. Naruto was beaming at her, "You can do it! Kick some ass Sakura!" he shouted and she couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. She then looked at Sasuke who was watching the two of them intently. The smile slowly dropped off her face at the thought of not being able to prove to him that she was good enough. The other woman already intrigued him, and Sakura refused to make her look any better than she already did in Sasuke's eyes.

With a new surge of determination, Sakura turned back to Arya, eyes narrowing in concentration as she shifted into a battle stance.

Arya blinked slowly at the other ninja. She didn't know what was going through her head, but whatever it was, it seemed to give her a very…confident air. No matter, thought Arya as she pulled her long black hair into a ponytail. She sincerely doubted that the girl would put up much of a fight.

"Arya," said her Sensei, and she turned to him, raising an eyebrow in question. "No blood release," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"I know that."

"No dark release either," he said and Arya sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright."

"And no smoke release."

"You're such a buzz kill."

Enta chuckled at that, eyes twinkling in mirth. "Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu. That's all. I don't want you relying on your kekkei genkai, it's becoming a bad habit," he said, waggling a finger in her direction. Shaking her head, she turned to the other shinobi.

"Oh and one more thing."

"Oh for the love of Kami," she grumbled and Enta laughed out loud at the look on her face.

"Play nice," he said with a cheeky grin and Arya scoffed, unable to suppress the tiny smirk that appeared on her face. Enta was so annoying. But she loved him like the big brother she never had, and so she tolerated it.

"I'm always nice," she said sarcastically, flashing a smile at him.

"Of course you are," he said and then nodded in Sakura's direction. "Don't keep your opponent waiting."

She nodded at him once and then her eyes drifted to the man standing beside her Sensei. He met her eyes briefly, but his face remained deceptively blank.

"Okay!" called Sakura, drawing her gaze away from Kakashi and back to the spar. Before she could orient herself, the girl came charging at her. "HAI-YA!" she shouted, and Arya dodged a fist thrown in her direction. The hand flew past her head, close enough that she actually heard a high pitched whirring sound. She turned her head, long hair whipping behind her, just in time to see Sakura's fist connecting with the earth.

Her eyebrows flew upwards as she watched the ground shake and crumble. Across from the destruction, Arya watched as Zen and Haru jumped in opposite directions to avoid the attack.

"Alright Sakura!" shouted Naruto, and Arya took a split second to analyze and file away the information she'd just learned. Half the reason why Arya was such a terrifying opponent was because she noticed everything. She registered everything. And she used all that information to her advantage.

Monstrous strength, which meant excellent chakra control, she deduced quietly in her head as Sakura turned around and charged at her again. Like the last time, Arya jumped out of the way just before Sakura made contact with a tree, snapping the thick trunk in half.

Perhaps she had written the girl off too soon, she thought as she watched her move. She was strong, yes, but she was slow. And she would use that to her advantage.

Sakura charged again, this time drawing two kunai, infusing them with chakra so they glowed blue. She ducked down and they flew over her head. In her crouched position, she quickly formed a couple hand signs. "Shadow flame jutsu," she said, touching both palms to the ground. Sakura instantly braced to go on the defensive, but…nothing happened.

Frowning, the pink-haired Kunoichi straightened up and looked at her. From across from them, she could hear Naruto laughing loudly, saying something about how her jutsu had failed. At that, she couldn't help a predatory smirk from forming on her face.

Sakura took a small step backwards without realizing it. The look on Arya's face was, well, to be simply put, scary. She looked almost feral. And, she didn't know if it was just her vision, but Sakura could have sworn that the other woman's usually clear grey eyes turned a few shades darker. She was wondering about that when she suddenly heard Naruto gasp and shout her name.

She was in the process of turning when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the flames coming at her from behind. She dove to the ground, but it still caught her. Sakura instantly rolled to her back, putting out the fire that caught on her clothes.

Arya watched, almost amused, as Sakura rolled to all fours, panting as her big green eyes stared up at her in shock. Across from them, she could see that Naruto was gapping at her while Sasuke watched her silently, eyes calculating. Her own teammates, however, conversed with one another casually, not paying her any attention. This was nothing new to them, and they had long since gotten used to her and her unconventional jutsu.

"Are you alright Sakura?" asked Enta, and Sakura nodded, slowly getting to her feet. "I'm fine," she said as she scrubbed at a bit of dirt on her face.

"What the hell kind of a jutsu was that?!" demanded Naruto, getting to his feet.

"Shadow flame jutsu," said Kakashi and Arya turned to look at him, but he was looking at Naruto. "A jutsu unique to the village hidden in the Shadows. The user makes the attack from one side, seemingly producing no results. The real attack, however, literally sneaks up on you from behind, like a shadow."

Having received his answer, Naruto turned his glare onto her. "What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted and Arya simply crossed her arms, watching him silently. "You could have killed her!"

"That attack wasn't enough to kill her, you idiot," she said calmly. "Even if it had hit her full on, she wouldn't have died. She would have been on fire, which is an easy enough issue to remedy. Believe me. If I wanted to kill her, she'd be dead."

Naruto gapped at her, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"You…you're a monster," he said finally.

A couple things happened at once.

First, Zen and Haru instantly stopped talking and scrambled to their feet, staring between Naruto and Arya. Simultaneously Enta cursed under his breath, and Kakashi's normally impassive face darkened as he glowered at his own student. From the middle of the clearing, Arya clenched her fists, and they began to tremble ever so slightly. Her eyes had darkened to almost black.

"What did you say?" she demanded, but the voice that came from her sounded different. Less human and more…demonic.

Naruto audibly gulped and began backing up. Even Sasuke gave up his uninterested demeanor and straightened up from the tree to stare openly.

"I didn't mean it!" said Naruto instantly, putting his hands up. "I swear, I was only kidding!"

Arya took a step towards him, heart thudding in her chest as the voice roared indignantly in her head. But before she could get far, she was stopped by Enta who appeared in front of her to put his hands firmly on her shoulders. He dipped his head so his mouth was at her ear.

"Come on now Princess," he said, voice light, but eyes hard. "You heard him, he didn't mean it, alright?"

"Yea! I swear! I didn't mean it. I mean, I was only worried about Sakura, I wasn't trying to offend you or-" Naruto's insistent jabbering was cut off by Kakashi who slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Just be quiet," he snapped, looking down at him. Naruto gave his Sensei an apologetic look and Kakashi felt badly for being so harsh. The blonde didn't know that calling Arya a monster wasn't exactly a good idea. But even then, Kakashi couldn't contain the instinctive anger he felt towards him for saying it. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi gave him a little smile, letting him know it was okay.

Or at least he hoped it would be.

Looking over his shoulder, he glanced at where Enta and Arya stood, huddled together as the man spoke to her. She was still glaring at Naruto, but then her eyes shifted up to his. Having seen her like this many times, he calmly looked into her dark eyes and watched as they slowly turned back into their usual slate grey colour.

Finally she sighed and closed her eyes. Enta beamed just then, patting her firmly on the shoulder before stepping away. Arya stood there for a moment longer before finally opening her eyes.

"I'm...really sorry Arya…truly," said Naruto softly and she sighed again, staring at a spot somewhere above his head.

"It's fine," she said curtly, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. She then turned to Sakura, who had been frozen in her place for the duration of the entire ordeal. "I…apologize if I hurt you," said Arya and Enta raised a brow. She wasn't one for apologies.

Sakura shifted her feet and twiddled her thumbs, a blush rising to her cheeks. "No, don't apologize. I'm fine. Naruto is just an idiot," she said, turning to glare at the boy who had the audacity to look sheepish.

"Well," said Enta, clapping his hands together. "Now that the excitement is over, Haru and Sasuke, you two are up."

Arya began to walk to where her teammates were, and as Haru passed by, he touched her shoulder and gave her a smile. She found the energy to smile back at him before sitting by Zen. The brunette dropped down to lounge in the grass next to her. And though he said nothing about what had just happened, he bumped her shoulder playfully, rambling about something neither of them particularly cared about.

As Haru and Sasuke silently took up their positions in the middle of the clearing, Kakashi walked back to stand by Enta. "So it's still happening, huh?" he asked quietly, eyes on the two boys who began to circle one another. Enta gave a very small nod, his eyes also on the spar.

"She'll go months without him making an appearance, and then it'll happen. Certain things trigger it more than others. The meditation I've been teaching her has been helping, but still."

"She needs a stronger seal," said Kakashi, slipping his hands into his pockets as he watched Sasuke activate his Sharingan.

Nodding again, Enta ran a hand through his hair.

"Well it's half the reason we're here."

"When is-" cutting himself off, Kakashi turned to look behind him at the same time Enta turned in the same direction.

"Kotetsu," grinned Enta, greeting the newcomer. The man in question grinned and slapped Enta on the back.

"Enta. It's been a while."

"Sure has," he said nodding at the other man. "So, what brings you to our training session?"

"A message from the Hokage," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I've got a mission for you. Well, actually it's for you Kakashi."

Having heard the word 'mission' Naruto jumped up and dashed over to the trio of Jonin.

"Finally a mission!" he cheered, not noticing the sheepish expression on Kotetsu's face.

"Uh, sorry Naruto, you're not assigned to this one."

The blonde's face fell and he began to sulk.

"But, but, why not? I haven't been on a mission in ages!" he whined and Kakashi patted his head sympathetically.

"I'm going alone I'm guessing?" asked Kakashi and Kotetsu shook his head.

"No, Lady Tsunade asked to see you and someone named Arya, although I don't exactly know who that is. Do you, by any chance?"

Both Kakashi and Enta were visibly surprised at the news. Arya being sent on a mission, just days after getting to the village? And with Kakashi no less. Recovering first, Enta nodded slowly.

"She's one of mine," he said and then looked over his shoulder. "Arya!" A moment later, the Kunoichi in question was at his side.

"You rang?" she said dryly, raising an eyebrow and Enta grinned.

"You remember Kotetsu, don't you?" he asked her, gesturing at the other man. Arya glanced over at him, looking him over, head to toe in a way that made his cheeks take on a faint pink hue.

"I remember," she said with a slight nod of her head. She'd seen the man a bunch of times before, though she was never close with him or anything. She'd mostly just known him because he was one of Kakashi and Enta's friends. He looked the same as he did four years ago, so she didn't really have any trouble placing him. "Hello."

"Still don't remember her?" asked Enta, slightly amused at the way Kotetsu was staring at her. He was a whole lot more amused at the subtle glares Kakashi was giving the poor man.

"No, uh, I remember her. It's nice to see you again, Arya," he said, and she flashed him a quick smile before turning back to Enta.

"You needed me for something?" she asked, and he gestured at Kotetsu.

"The Hokage wants to see you," he said and she frowned slightly.

"Why?"

"Because you're being sent on a mission."

"Oh. Alright, I'll get Haru and Zen." She was about to walk off when Enta tugged on her ponytail to stop her.

"They're not going with you, princess."

"I'm being sent on a solo mission?" she questioned, tugging on the hair Enta still held onto.

"No. I'm going with you."

At his words, Arya's eyes snapped to Kakashi. She stared at him for a long moment before looking back at Enta. "Seriously?" she asked incredulously, and if she'd been looking at him, she'd have seen the way Kakashi bristled slightly.

"Hokage's orders," said her Sensei with a casual shrug. "She requested the two of you."

"Well can I refuse?" she asked, crossing her arms, and Kotetsu frowned, looking between Kakashi and Arya. Most people didn't know about what conspired between the two of them, but word travelled through the Jonin ranks. And from what he'd heard, he wasn't exactly surprised at her reluctance to work with Kakashi. But Tsunade, despite knowing about the issue, insisted on the two of them for the mission.

"You will not refuse," said Enta, the grin dropping off his face as he regarded his student seriously. "You will go and carry out this mission like any other shinobi in this village."

"Fine," she grumbled, finally succeeding in tugging her hair out of his grasp. "Are we going now?" she asked, turning to Kotetsu who gave her a boyish grin.

"Yes, you just need to go to the Towers to get your instructions. I'm sure Kakashi knows the way," he said, looking at the other man. Nodding, Kakashi turned to Enta.

"Oversee their training while I'm gone?" he asked and Enta nodded. "Alright. We'll see you later." With that, he disappeared in the direction of the village without sparing her a glance. Arya watched his retreating back before looking at Kotetsu who shrugged.

"Right. Well, bye," she muttered and then ran off in the direction Kakashi went, allowing Kotetsu to fall into step with her as they moved through the trees.

"Do you know what this mission is about?" she asked him after a moment of silence. It took the man a couple moments to even realize that she'd asked him something because he was preoccupied with staring at her through the corner of his eyes.

"What? Oh. No, I don't know anything about it. I'm just a messenger."

At that, Arya nodded and kept silent. She didn't know what the mission was about, but it couldn't exactly be great news if she was going to be stuck with Kakashi for the duration of it. Sighing to herself, she saw the village begin to appear in front of them. Whatever it was, she hoped it would be over and done quick.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sowwie this took so long, hehe ^_^**

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><p>Of course the Fifth and Kakashi would have known she was there already, they were highly skilled ninja after all. Letting the door shut behind her, Arya looked between the two other occupants of the room. Kakashi was staring straight forward, eyes locked on something beyond the large windows, arms crossed. Most people would have seen him and thought that he was just bored, but Arya knew him better than that. It seemed to her that he'd been arguing with the Hokage. Turning to the woman in question, she realized that the blonde was giving her a critical look.<p>

"So you're Arya, huh," she said, leaning back in her chair. Arya didn't bother to say anything, opting to nod once instead. Standing next to Kakashi, she returned Tsunade's long look in a silent challenge. Eventually the woman gave a short, barking laugh and Arya was instantly confused.

"You've chosen well," she said to Kakashi who actually scowled. Arya would have laughed at the look on his face, but she was also currently scowling at the older woman. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"Well, now that you're both here, I can debrief you. Kakashi, you will be taking the lead on this one, a B-rank. You are to escort a painter from here to Suna."

"You need the both of us to escort a painter?" interrupted Arya, a disbelieving look on her face. If she had to be stuck with Kakashi, she at least wanted it to be a good mission. "What bullshit."

It was Tsunade's turn to scowl now as she regarded the young woman.

"Your job is to do what you are told, not to ask stupid questions, understand?"

Arya was getting ready to snap right back, and Kakashi must have anticipated this because he interjected smoothly.

"Who's coming after this guy?" he asked, and Tsunade turned to him.

"Debt collectors," she said simply, steepling her fingers. "Seems that Komodo has quite a few debts he hasn't paid. And so they hired ninja to retrieve him and make him pay. Your job is to safely get him to Suna so he can do some sort of painting for some wealthy family. I asked for the two of you specifically for this mission. Kakashi you are one of our best, and you've fought with the ninja who will be coming after you before."

The man nodded and Arya crossed her arms over her chest.

"If he's so capable, then why do you need me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well for one, half the reason you're here is for you to be going on higher ranked missions. I'm sure there is a lot you can learn from him," she said, an unholy smirk on her face. Arya felt the urge to punch that smirk off her face, but then Enta would throw a fit.

"And secondly, to put it bluntly, you and Kakashi need to get over whatever shit you have between you. I can't have two of the strongest ninja in this village dancing around one another. And yes, you are a powerful ninja Arya, even though you are as sour as a grape sometimes."

Arya scowled, and Kakashi was grateful that his mask hid his smirk.

"I hope that the two of you will hash out whatever misgivings you have between you during this trip. You'll be gone for a couple days, I trust that this will be enough time. You two are adults now, and I expect you to handle this situation as such, understood?"

"Understood," said Kakashi and the two of them turned to her simultaneously. Giving a begrudging sigh, Arya looked heavenward. "Yes, alright, whatever."

"Great," said Tsunade, clapping her hands. "Here's a scroll with all the details you'll need. You will leave at the break of dawn. Dismissed."

Bowing in sync, the Kakashi held the door open for her as they both exited into the hallway. They fell into step easily, though they walked with about a foot of space between the two of them. Once they'd finally stepped out of the building, Kakashi turned to her, hands deep in his pockets, eyes off in the distance.

"We'll meet at the gates at six," he said and Arya smirked.

"Six in 'Kakashi-time' is more like seven," she said before she could stop herself, and his eyes flashed over to her. Their gazes met and locked, and Arya could actually feel the light blush that bloomed on her cheeks.

She watched his eyes as they went from mild surprise to something more…soft. He took a step forward then, a hand moving out of his pocket. "Arya…" he began, but she dropped her gaze to the ground, taking a step backwards.

"I'll be there at six. Be on time."

And with that, she used that kekkei genkai of hers and dispersed into a cloud of black smoke. Kakashi dropped the hand that had been reaching for her and looked off in the direction she'd disappeared.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and began walking back to the training grounds. He didn't even know what he would have said, had she stayed. It wasn't like he had planned something out or anything. He'd just felt this…pressing need to feel close to her again. He didn't know if he meant to do that with physical contact or by talking to her, but it didn't seem like she wanted either.

She didn't seem to want anything to do with him.

And he deserved it, but it hurt nonetheless.

Kicking at a pebble, he stuck his hands back into his pockets as he thought hard about his ex-girlfriend. He hated feeling uncertain. Hated feeling as though the situation wasn't in his control. Hated feeling so torn up inside. And it was funny, because Arya always had a way of bringing those feelings out in him.

Hell, the first time he had ever met her, she had managed to have him feeling all conflicted inside. He thought back to that day all those years ago.

It was the middle of winter, and he had been coming back from a solo mission. He was just about to enter the gates of Konoha when he had heard something. Thinking back on it now, he realized how easy it would have been for him to just keep going and not investigate the noise.

He would have never met her.

His eleven year old self had decided to investigate, however, and he soon came across a peculiar lump in the snow. He'd poked at the lump, only to realize that it was a person. A little girl. Curled up into a tight little ball, fast asleep with her thumb tucked into her mouth.

He remembered thinking that she was so tiny. A frail little thing with more hair on her head than that skinny little neck should have been able to hold. That was the first time that she made him uncertain. He wondered if he should leave her there or take her into the village.

He ended up deciding on the latter of course, and so he had reached down and pulled the sleeping child into his arms and started walking towards the hospital. Despite the freezing weather out, he was surprised to find that she was warm, her cheeks even had a rosy glow to them.

Kakashi remembered vividly how he had looked down upon her, coal black hair whipping in the wind as she subconsciously snuggled into him. In that moment, even he had to begrudgingly admit that she was adorable.

But then he noticed the bruises.

The clouds of purple and blue that marred her otherwise flawless skin. He remembered counting them and feeling a surge of anger as the number climbed above ten. There were old ones and new ones, most of them on her arms and legs. And then he noticed that her clothes were tattered, almost as though she ripped at them.

Or someone else had.

His frown deepened as he noticed the blood on her pants. He didn't even realize he had broken into a run until he was at the doors to the hospital sooner than he'd expected. He ran in and handed her off to a nurse. As he watched her being wheeled away, he knew in the pit of his stomach what had happened to the child.

And it angered him.

Even thinking about it now, years and years later, it still managed to make his blood boil. How anyone could do such a thing to a child was beyond him.

As the doctors worked on the mysterious little girl, Kakashi had paced in the hallway. He could have left, he had training to do, and he told himself that his job was done. And yet he stayed.

He could hear the doctors through the door. Not clearly, but well enough to hear the word _rape. _He was right. And pissed him off. But then he heard the doctor addressing the girl, asking for her name. It didn't seem like she was saying much, because the doctor repeated himself a bunch of times before finally opening the door.

Slightly startled to see Kakashi waiting there, the doctor asked if he knew the girl. Kakashi explained how he found her, and the doctor frowned, glancing back into the room. He asked Kakashi to talk to her, to see if he could get any information from her. He didn't respond to that, instead he stood there silently until the doctor excused himself, saying something about talking to the Hokage.

Kakashi stood outside her room for fifteen minutes before finally deciding to go in.

From the second he walked into the room, two big grey eyes were glued to him. She seemed to recognize him somehow, and it made him uneasy. He went to stand in the corner of the room, far away from the bed, and they watched each other silently for what seemed like an eternity.

'What is your name,' he had said finally, and she blinked up at him before answering in the quietest of whispers.

"Arya."

He had approached her then, coming to stand tentatively at her bedside. He stared at her, or more particularly at her bruises, and frowned again.

"How old are you?" he asked, and his question was again answered in that same soft whisper.

"Five."

His stomach twisted.

"Who did this to you?"

She didn't answer him that time, instead opting to stare down at her lap. He felt himself getting frustrated, but it wasn't like he was going to take it out on a battered and broken little girl. So instead he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Where are your parents?"

She still remained silent, but her bottom lip trembled, and that knot of anger brewing in the pit of his stomach flared. His fists clenched and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that she flinched and cowered back into the pillow she was propped up against.

Instantly he forced himself to unclench his hands and watched as the girl raised her eyes to his. They were swimming with tears, and Kakashi fidgeted in his spot on the bed. He wasn't good with emotions. He wasn't the nurturing type. All he really knew how to do was fight and train. He wished Rin were there to deal with the little girl. Or even Obito. Anyone but him.

But no one else was there, and she was staring up at him with those big eyes and he was at a loss.

"It's okay," he found himself saying. "You'll be safe here."

Saying that was already so out of character for him. So when he uttered the next few words, he was completely astonished at himself.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

He was berating himself for saying what he did, but then he saw something that completely made him forget his frustration with himself.

She was smiling.

Big and bright, her pearly little teeth shining. 'She has dimples' he remembered thinking to himself. And before he knew it, he was smiling too. It was nowhere near as big as hers, and it was hidden behind his mask, but it was there. And Kakashi wasn't usually one for smiling.

And that was when he knew, with this odd sort of certainty, that this little girl would change his life.

He never could have imagined how much.

Sighing, Kakashi returned his thoughts to the present just as he approached the clearing. He could hear Naruto shouting about something and then Sakura yelling at him to shut up. Stepping into view, he tried to clear his mind, but it was to no avail. And Arya was nowhere in sight.

Enta came to stand beside him silently. His friend took one look at his face and sent him a sympathetic look and a pat on the back.

What was he going to do?

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